Customer Reviews

From Conception: Live 1981

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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I was caught off guard when I found out this was coming out today, and so I hurried up and bought this at my favorite local store. I am glad I did so. It is a recording of Dokken in their early days performing at their best before their ego's got the best of them. 3 new previously unreleased tracks Going Down, Hit and Run, and Liar make this a worth while pick up, along with early perfomances of favorites like Paris is Burning, Night Rider, and Breaking the Chains, staples in their sets for years to come. Lynch is fresh in this, with a nice guitar solo in here showing off his guitar work fresh out of his Xciter years. Don Dokkens voice is distiguishable, and not warn down by the years to come, and Mick Brown is pounding away at the skins as always. They were well put together and timed then, and they have continued to deliver since. A great pick up for you collection.
This is not just another cheap attempt at Rhino records trying to make extra money off of a dying band, but an official release that is backed 100% by Dokken and on thier website. The liner notes in the album explain the origins of the album, and why it is coming out now. This is a cool album and must be had by collectors and fans. This hopefully will tide you over until their new album Lightning Strikes Again this summer.
FYI: There is a major chain store that has a bonus video download of the song "stay" from Don's solo album, worth a look.

Nicely assembled and edited archive live 1981 performance of Dokken just prior to their debut lp - 'Breaking The Chains' release. Total of ten tracks. Some are right off the album, like the title cut, "Paris Is Burning", the eight-minute "Nightrider" and "Young Girls". Tunes here that appear to be exclusive to this disc are the jamming "Going Down" {their own version, not the cover}, "Hit And Run" and "You're A Liar". Just recently caught Dokken on tour as support band for Poison. Didn't realize that Don Dokken was 55. As he sounds good live, but he isn't near as lively on stage as he once was. Drummer Mick Brown was pretty happening as well.

THE BAND: Don Dokken (vocals), George Lynch (guitars), Jeff Pilson (bass), Mick Brown (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (2007) 10 tracks clocking in at approximately 48 minutes. Included with the disc is a 3-page foldout containing one band photo, and a short note from Don Dokken about what was going on with the band at the time, and how he came across these old tapes. "From The Conception" features 10 live tracks - 6 songs taken from the album "Breaking The Chains" (1983), 3 songs previously unreleased, and 1 George Lynch guitar solo. Label - Rhino.

COMMENTS: I'm a long time Dokken fan and this is a great sounding disc. Dokken is featured here in early raw form - as Don Dokken says in the liner notes - these recordings were "Before we saw success... we were hungry and ready to take on the world". The unreleased songs are the true highlights - "Goin' Down", "Hit And Run", and "Liar" are extremely cool to hear decades later. All 3 tracks rock in typical Dokken fashion. And the classics sound awesome - the thundering intro of "Paris Is Burning", the 8-minute "Night Rider", and their 1st hit "Breaking The Chains" stand above the rest. There is some controversy here though - I've read from 3 different sources that this is the same set list from a 1983 King Biscuit Flower Hour show (so why advertise as 1981?); and bassist Juan Croucier played with the band through 1982 including their 1983 debut (so if this is truly a 1981 recording, why is Jeff Pilson listed as the bass player here?). That aside - this is a great taste of early Dokken. The band sounds incredibly tight and if what Don Dokken says is true - "...finding some old 2-inch tapes that were in faded boxes... the tapes were moldy and we weren't sure they would be able to be played" - this has truly turned out to be a great find. Here's hoping that other bands of the time will have similar success in finding some old undiscovered live tapes (some David Lee Roth era Van Halen, or early 80's Def Leppard would be tops on my wish list). Regardless of the year recorded or the actual players on "From Conception - Live 1981", this is a good album. Perhaps not essential for the low-flying Dokken fan, but for the diehards - an absolute yes (4 stars).

From Conception:Live 1981 is all that Don stated and more. He said it was a "raw"and "powerful". He's not kidding! The music is full of energy and showed the promise of things that were yet to come. Easily, this CD stands up to the music on "Tooth and Nail" and "Back for the Attack". If you liked either of these 2 albums, you will definitly love the music here.

Although I would guess Don knows what he's talking about, I suspect Jeff Pilson actually does not play bass on this recording, if it is really from 1981. The reason for this is that I have a video of Dokken performing on Beat Club, a TV show filmed in Bremen, Germany, from 1982 which has Juan Croucier on bass. Also, the song "Live To Rock" is on this CD, but the song is called "We're Illegal" with different lyrics and the same music on the Bremen show. Juan also played bass on the 1983 Breaking the Chains release, so how could it be that Jeff Pilson is on bass in 1981? Regardless, this is a great sounding heavy-duty live set which is a must for any Dokken collection.

This is a great CD for Dokken fans. They sound great and you get to hear all of the golden oldies from back in the day. It was a very pleasant surprise.

What makes this recording impressive is that it was during the time Randy Rhoades was emerging as the next big thing. George Lynch was equally impressive by these samples. I will definitely get this cd.

As an avid collector of Dokken music, I wanted to provide some feedback regarding this disc. While Don and the boy's song writing ability grew by leaps and bounds on subsequent albums, their youth, drive, and enthusiasm are very present in these song selections. Yes, the lyrics in songs such as 'Goin' Down' and 'Young Girls' are a bit tad on the hokey side but let's not forget the times-1982-when lyrical content such as this was quite popular. Also, these guys were pretty young and as all of us Dokken fans know, all you have to do is compare the strength of their lyrics, arrangements, and songs of this material to that of future Dokken records to see that that their abilities as song writers grew as they got more experienced. As the liner notes state, this album does sound raw, yet an excellent job was done in production. It sounds like a live album and yet it sounds very good coming out of the speakers of your car stereo. This is a great album for highlighting a very important period of Dokken's career-the beginning! I look forward to Dokken releasing future live albums of material spanning the rest of their career, reflecting the growth and maturity of their music. The inclusion of the three unreleased tracks was a nice bonus for us hard core Dokken fans who can't get enough. Finally, what I found particularly appealing was Don putting in the time and effort to create this album, featuring George and Jeff. It's a true sign of maturity on Don's part to have created something featuring all 4 original members-that goes for the music, the photos inside the sleave, and the liner notes that Don wrote. It shows that Don cares more about the legacy of this band than he does for carrying on any long-standing personal grudges. This album is not strictly something that Don and Mick can be proud of but also Jeff and George as well as it reflects a collective effort and history of all 4 members. I look forward to picking up Lightening Strikes Again this summer!!!

For Dokken fans, this CD is a gem. Bands evolve over time and you sometimes wish their new recordings sounded like the old ones. Well, here we go. True, this CD has several cuts that were previously released. Some though have never been released live. It also contains three never released songs all of which stand up well compared to other early-era Dokken. There has been a lot of confusion over who is on the CD and who isn't. I have listned to this CD a few dozen time, so let me clear up the confusion. George Lynch IS the guitarist on this disc. Don names him during the recording. It would also appear this was recorded in 1983 as the "Breaking the Chains" video is refrenced on it also. Why this is billed from 1981 is a bit of a mystery. Still, if you like Dokken, or just want to hear something from back in the day that is loud, and tight you should pick up this disc. And don't worry about the sound quality - there should be no concerns.

This is Dokken before they made it big. Before Breaking The chains. They were hungry with something to prove.